Russia Rejects Trump’s Proposal to Delay Ukraine’s NATO Membership
As newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump aims to end global conflicts, particularly the Russian-Ukrainian war, a new stance has emerged from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clarified that Russia rejects Trump’s proposal to postpone Ukraine’s NATO membership for 20 years. In an interview with TASS agency on Sunday, Lavrov stated, “The leaks and Trump’s interview with Time Magazine on December 12 suggest freezing military operations along the front line and passing more responsibility to Europeans for confronting Russia.” He further added, “We reject the proposals made by representatives of the incoming president’s team to delay Ukraine’s membership in NATO for twenty years.”
Lavrov also dismissed any proposal for deploying European and British peacekeeping forces in Ukrainian territory.
Preliminary Plan
Some U.S. sources had hinted that the President-elect, returning to the White House in January, has a preliminary plan to resume negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. These sources mentioned Trump’s suggestion to delay Ukraine’s NATO accession, a demand that has historically been contentious with Russia, for 10 to 20 years.
It’s worth noting that last week, Trump appointed Keith Kellogg as a special envoy for Ukraine, where the retired American general emphasized that the new administration seeks a fair and sustainable peace for both nations.
Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly outlined a series of demands for ending the war, including “ensuring Ukraine’s neutrality and non-alignment, its denuclearization, eliminating long-term security threats to Russia, including NATO expansion, and safeguarding the rights, freedoms, and interests of Russian-speaking citizens in eastern Ukraine.”
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